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INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — There are many analogies to life after high school.

The 71 Incline High School graduating seniors heard a few of them on June 19 in the school’s gym before taking off on their own individual paths.

“If you think about ...it soccer and sports in general parallel in so many ways to what lies ahead for you,” Leslie Hermann, Incline K-12 principal, told graduates, family, friends and faculty. “No. 1 in soccer and in life, we have to learn how to prioritize your time. It’s not just about making it to your game, but how to fit in practice — a lot of it.

“It’s also not always about winning, but the effort you invest in every game. … You learn that success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and, most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do that will make you a standout in your field.”

Salutatorian Sarah Wright compared life after high school to a different playing surface — Incline High’s student parking lot.

“We are often eager to get out of the parking lot, to get home after a long day at school, and for us seniors to graduate and move on with our lives, but that annoying 15 miles per hour speed limit right outside of school cautions us to slow down, be safe and not forget the English binder that we left on the roof of our car,” she said, drawing laughs from the crowd. “Don’t worry, Jack Miller, it happens.

“… Class of 2014, we’ve been through a lot together. Graduating will now require us to take some risks. Sometimes we can’t always see what’s coming around that dangerous corner at the upper lot, but we have to take a leap of faith and pull out anyway.”

Valedictorian Misha Gehring believes her fellow classmates can overcome any roadblock that may stand in their way.

“The past four years, our schedules have gotten a little crazy. Some might say we spread ourselves too thin, we try to do too much, but I say we relish the challenge,” she said. “… While everyone else is attempting to make life simpler, we are happy to grow exponentially in all directions.

“As Nelson Mandela said, ‘There is no passion to be found playing small — in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.’” The class of 2014 does not settle, and we never will.

“… Class of 2014, keep doing what we do best — working hard and playing harder, pursuing happiness and building our own infinities because to quote Barney Stinson, our future is going to be ‘legendary.’”